Logan Circle

Logan Circle was part of Pierre L’Enfant’s original plan for DC, and was called Iowa Circle until 1930, when Congress renamed it to honor Civil War hero John Logan. After the Civil War, the area became home to DC’s wealthy and powerful, and by the turn of the century it was home to many black leaders, including Mary McLeod Bethune. Logan Circle, along with nearby Shaw, became the epicenter of Black Washington in the early- to mid-1900s. The neighborhood then attracted a number of car dealerships was was called DC’s “automobile row”, but then fell into decline by the mid-20th century (huh? Car dealerships don’t make for good community development?). The 1968 riots hit the area hard, and for most of the second half of the twentieth century the area was known for crime, drugs, prostitution, and dilapidated housing. Efforts at redeveloping the area began in the 1970s and culminated in the opening of the Whole Foods on P Street NW in 2000. Since then, the area has seen lots of high-end residential development (those old car dealerships are now luxury lofts!) as well as redevelopment of older homes. P Street NW is now one of DC’s most successful streets, with neighborhood-serving retail and mixed-use development. Neighborhood Character: Logan Circle contains a mix of historic row houses, brand new luxury condos, and a wide variety of retail. It has one of the highest concentrations of apartments in the city and represents a variety of architectural styles, but the gentrification othat has come to the area in the past decade has significantly raised rents, and affordable housing is a concern.